Lindfield Bonfire Societies History

The earliest information on bonfire celebrations in Lindfield date back to 1881. Back then it was very different from today. There were street fires outside the public house's "The Red Lion" and "The Bent Arms". The bonfire boys would burn anything they could get their hands on. One year a gentleman urged them on to keep piling on faggots onto the fire, which they did. It wasn't till the next morning that the said gentleman realised that the faggots were his very own! There was also the rolling of tar barrels down the High Street and the customary letting off, of crackers and squibs. The police being unable or unwilling to put a stop to this action. It can be said that the boys were nearly as unruly as their counterparts down the Ouse in Lewes! Things finally came to a head in 1894 when the authorities told the boys that they must organise their selves or face the heavy hand of the law. So in 1896 Lindfield Bonfire society was born. With the aim of holding a organised display in the village on each November the 5th. And here we are still today..

The 1800's

Earliest information on Bonfire in Lindfield dates back to 1881. Back in the 18'00's the 'Fifth' was celebrated in Lindfield in much the same way as in other towns and villages in Sussex, with the usual street fires, dragging of tar barrels and much riotous behaviour. There used to be three fires lit on the night, one on the common, one outside the then headquarters the Bent Hotel (now the Bent Arms) and outside the Red Lion. The fires outside the pubs consisting of tar barrels and bundles of faggots. There is a report that one year a local man was cheering the boys on as they piled one of the fires high with faggots, unknown to him at the time that the faggots were actually coming from his garden! As for the riotous behaviour the boys on several occasions enjoyed running the police lines with blazing tar barrels, squibs, crackers and fireballs. On most occasions the police just stood by and let them get on with it, unable or unwilling to actually do anything about it. In 1884 the Toll Gates in the village were finally removed and the boys allowed to burn them on the many fires dotted around the High Street. In previous years when the gates were still in use the authorities used to remove them to save them from the Bonfire Boys. Finally in 1894 a Bonfire Society was formed in the village due to pressure from the annoyed authorities and locals, who had enough of the bad behaviour. The boys being told get organised or bonfire would be banned in Lindfield (Not sure on how they would enforce that ban). Money for fireworks were raised by holding a firework fund. People could donate funds to this my giving money to the collection boxes in shops in the village. The Society used to form the procession up outside the Bent Hotel then march down to the common for the bonfire fireworks. Then they would leave the common with tar barrels and much squabbling. Depositing the barrels outside the Red Lion and Bent Hotel.

Early 1900's

There is very little information on the celebrations in Lindfield for the early 1900's although they did take place with the usual Bonfire and fireworks on the Common. All celebrations were suspended during the First World War. It wasn't until the 20's and 30's that Bonfire really took off again in the village thanks to the Anscombes. Then the event had calmed down and was mainly for the children of the village. The fancy dress competition on the night was always well attended with children in various costumes and outfits. Then a torchlight procession around the village and ending up on the common for the bonfire and fireworks. One of the highlights was the display in 1935 which featured a giant set-piece of the 'Loch Ness Monster'. Again all celebrations were suspended during World War Two. Although there was a small celebration in 1945 to celebrate the end of the war.

Post War Years

Late 40's Again the Anscombes were keeping the 'The Fifth' alive in the village in the early years after the war. Again the evening being mainly for the children of the village 1950's On several occasions in the 50's there are reports that the bonfire was set ablaze by hooligans prior to the 'Fifth'. This was mainly due to the fact that the bonfire building started at least a week before the 'fifth'. Again the celebrations followed the usual order of the fancy dress competition, torchlight procession followed by the bonfire and fireworks on the Common. In 1957 Whiteman's Green Bonfire Society took part in the procession and celebrations 1960's Hundreds of people from all over Sussex turned out to watch the celebrations in 1960 due to the Lewes Celebrations being suspended due to flooding there. No problems in Lindfield with the fire being lit by over 400 torches. Set piece highlights in1963 were 'Father Christmas', 'Man in the Moon' and 'A Swan'. In 1964 hooligans again struck by lighting the fire on the 4th. The Society spent the next 24 hours collecting materials for a new fire. In the evening of the 'Fifth' two people were injured when someone in the crowd let off a homemade banger. One of the injured was taken to hospital to have a piece of metal removed from him. 1970's The 70's were blighted by the fact that we had a serious lack of members and the society nearly folded (We are facing the same problem now). But the society managed to get their numbers up and survive to fight another day. In 1976 I attended my first celebrations at Lindfield as a 4 month old baby. In 1978 a record £278 was raised for charity. The highlight of the display in 1979 was a massive set-piece of a windmill with moving sails. 1980's Highlight of the 80's was in 1984 the 100th anniversary of the removal of the toll gates. When replica's of the gates were burnt on the fire. In 1982 there was a set-piece of the 'Mary Rose' to commemorate the raising of the wreck in the same year. In 1988 a new record of £1450 was raised for charity. Also in the 80's people stood and looked in awe at the 'Guy' built by Martin Durrant which stood over 15 foot on many occasion. 1990's Many of the celebrations in the 90's commemorated the 50th anniversaries of events from WW2. There was a set piece battle of a Spitfire and ME109 for the Battle of Britain, a massive Ve and VJ to celebrate the end of the war. Also a set piece in memory of D-Day. In 1994 we celebrated our 100th Birthday. In the 100th celebrations we re-introduced the tar barrels, which have been ever present since. The committee aloud us to spend a record £2000 on fireworks that year as well.

2000 Onwards

The 21st Century didn't get off to a very good start as far as bonfire is concerned when we had to postpone on celebrations in 2000. This was because the Common looked more like the Somme, and after an emergency meeting with the authorities the decision was made to postpone until the 30th December. Now when the 30th December did come along we were greeted with snow and it was freezing! At least we put on a show for the village with other societies from Sussex attending our night for the first and possibly the last time ever. A big thanks to some of the Lewes Societies who donated some of their torches to us and everyone involved on that night. The best bonfire night in Lindfield some have claimed.